Right before that most important moment in my life
by Sagi
I clearly remember the day of October 21, 2015. On this day I started the most important journey of my life. The alarm went off at exactly 6:30. But it was unnecessary, I was already awake. I had been tossing and turning all night. But the thought of the day that I had been waiting for finally arriving filled me with energy. Today I’m maturing from a boy into a man. Today i’m joining the Israeli army.
I jumped out of bed and I ran to brush my teeth. As I stepped into the shower, I began to think. I started appreciating some of the little things in my life. The comfortable bed that I have, the clean bathroom, and hot water in the shower. I always heard about the poor living conditions in the army:”Don’t expect hot water, you will be lucky if you even have clean water in the shower”, everyone said to me.
When I got out of the shower my whole family was already awake. They were all sitting around the table waiting for me. “How did you sleep?”, my mom asked me enthusiastically. “Perfect”, I lied. I knew how she felt about sending her son into the military. She didn’t show it, but she was nervous. Even more than me.
Before I left the house I ran to my room to look at it one last time. I wouldn’t be back to sleep there for the next few weeks. We left the house for the military base at 7:30 am. “I can’t be late” I thought to myself, “It’s the army, I’m not in school anymore.” I was quiet throughout the drive. I was nervous. “What will I have to do? Which military base will I be in? What will my commander be like?” I had endless thoughts and questions running in my mind. In the next few days i’m going to find out what my next 3 years will look like and what they will entail.
We parked the car close to the base. While we were walking towards the base, I looked at some of the other families that came together for that special moment. I saw the anxious faces of the moms, the proud faces of the dads, and curious faces of the future soldiers. “We all feel exactly the same right now. Going towards the unknown”, I thought to myself while walking as slow as I possibly could to have more time with my family, because I knew I would have to say my goodbyes as soon as we arrived at the gate.
When we arrived to the gate I had a surprise. All of my friends were waiting there for me to give me a one last hug before I started my journey. “Take care of yourself brother”, they all said while giving me the longest hug they had have ever given me.
After that, the time to say goodbye to my family came. My sister and my mom hugged me for minutes. They couldn’t handle it and they started crying. “You will always be my little baby”, my mom said in a shaky voice. After that it was my brother’s and dad’s turn. They gave me a quick but strong hug. I saw that they wanted to cry but managed to stop themselves in order to stay strong for my sister and mom.
And then I saw it. The famous military bus. It’s the bus that you get on and wave goodbye to your family one last time. The bus that takes you to your military base. “OK, I need to go. I’ll see you later”, I said to my family and got on the bus. The one that I got on as a child, but stepped off of as a man.
